


Home is where the heart is

by lokilenchen



Series: Trektober 2020 [21]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Background Character Death, Holodecks/Holosuites, Homesick Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Homesickness, M/M, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27139123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lokilenchen/pseuds/lokilenchen
Summary: Whenever Leonard is homesick, Jim has the perfect surprise to get his husband’s mood back up.Trektober Day 21 (Holodeck)
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Series: Trektober 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168697
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25
Collections: Trektober 2020





	Home is where the heart is

Leonard had found a new home on board the Enterprise, had found a new home that was Jim and a family that was the crew of the Enterprise. Even though he had this new home and an additional family he couldn’t help but feel homesick. 

Sometimes it just seemed like the darkness and silence of space narrowed down on him and he wished he could be back on Earth, back in Georgia, back on the McCoy farm, sitting underneath one of the peach trees or on their front porch, feeling the summer warmth and inhaling the fresh air.

With Jim’s bright and warm presence it didn’t happen too often that Leonard felt like this. But on days they were on different shifts or one of them was working longer than the other, the brunette often felt alone and therefore started to miss his old home.

One night Jim had found him sitting on their bed staring at pictures of the farm, peach trees and himself with tears in his eyes. That day the doctor had had a particularly stressful shift in the medbay and his husband had worked even more overtime than Leonard himself.

Due to that and maybe because Leonard was sometimes obviously homesick Jim designed him a holodeck program as an anniversary gift.

The blonde had asked Leonard’s mother for pictures of every inch of the McCoy property and with that programmed a perfect replica of Leonard’s old home.

Now whenever the brunette doctor felt alone in the vastness of space, when Jim wasn’t there to comfort him or when he needed time for himself, then he simply went to Georgia for a few hours.

It was another day like that, he couldn’t save a patient. The Ensign was already too far gone, still Leonard tried his best, but it wasn’t enough.

His shift had already ended when he was finished with surgery. Still he didn’t want to go back to their shared quarters, knowing Jim wouldn’t be there, because of some video conference with an admiral.

Instead he made his way to the nearest holodeck, activated his personal program and stepped onto the front porch of his parents house.

He took a deep inhale of the supposedly fresh air, felt the light breeze and the warmth of the artificial sunlight against his skin. The porch creaked under his weight just like real wood back on their farmhouse did.

Sitting down on the Hollywood swing which was seated there, warping an old blanket around his shoulders, Leonard finally let himself relax in the soothing familiarity around him. It was so much like when he was little that he expected his mother to come out of the house to comfort him, but he was up in space and she was down on earth, so that wouldn’t happen.

This sense of home brought forth all the tears that had pent up, tears only Jim got to see; he needed to be strong for his staff in medbay, for the relatives and friends of the Ensign who he had to tell that their child or friend or love was dead.

That’s how Jim found him, still seated in the Hollywood swing, silently shedding tears. 

Kneeling down in front of him, Jim pulled Leonard’s hands in his. “What happened, Bones?”

“Lost a patient today. Couldn’t save the poor kid,” Leonard mumbled.

Jim stood up and sat down next to Leonard, cuddling together under the blanket. “You know it wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. Doesn’t make it better though,” Leonard said, putting his head on the blond’s shoulder. “I just wanted to feel home, but you had the conference with this admiral so I came here.”

“You know you’re more important than some unnecessary talk with some admiral, you’re my husband, the most important thing in my life and I’ll be here for you whenever you need me, because I love you,” Jim replied, whipping away the few tears left running down the doctor’s cheeks.

“Love you too. Thanks for being here for me.” Leonard snuggled even closer to Jim, being drawn to Jim like a weak flower turns towards the sun.

“Always,” Jim breathed, pressing a light kiss against the other’s lips.

They stayed like this for a while longer, just enjoying each other’s presence, rocking gently in the swing. Leonard felt even more at home like this with Jim by his side and the landscape of the place where he grew up all around them.

After some time Jim broke the quiescence around them.

“I actually wanted to surprise you on our next shore leave, but I think you need my little surprise now,” Jim made sure Leonard was listening. “I bought us a house in Georgia.”

“You bought us a house in Georgia?” Leonard reaped what Jim had said doubtfully.

“More like a farm right next to this one,” Jim answered, grinning like an idiot.

Leonard sat up so abruptly that he nearly fell out of the Hollywood swing, tears welling up in his eyes once again.

“I wanted you to stop crying, not to start again,” Jim laughed.

“You’re an idiot.”

“But you love me nevertheless.”

“Of course I love you,” Leonard said before he leaned in to kiss Jim, showing his husband what this meant to him. “How did you come up with this idea in the first place?”

“Your mother told me the farm next to hers was offered for sale and I thought about all the times we visited your mother and all these pictures of you as a kid on the farm. We live on a spaceship and once we have kids they’ll grow up on said spaceship, but I want them and us to have a home on earth too. I want us to sit on a porch like this and see our kids running between the peach trees, I want to grow old with you, I want it all with you,” Jim confessed.

“If we weren’t already married, I would ask you to marry me right now.” 

And with that they were kissing again until they were both breathless.


End file.
